Council Agrees to Explore New Electricity Supplier

By Cynthia Drummond for BRVCA

January 8th 2025

RICHMOND – The Town Council heard a presentation regarding a possible new electricity provider at the Tuesday meeting.

Members also approved a full-time position in the Town Clerk’s office, heard an update on plans for the property at 4 Richmond Townhouse Road, and considered next steps for the Richmond Economic Development Task Force.

Electricity

Councilor Dan Madnick introduced Colonial Power Group Vice President Stuart Orsmbee, who presented an overview of a community choice aggregation, a less costly alternative to Rhode Island Energy.

“There are seven towns in Rhode Island that currently have CCA [aggregation],” Madnick said. “That’s Barrington, Central Falls, Narragansett, Newport, Portsmouth, Providence and South Kingstown.”

Madnick suggested looking at the experiences of other towns as part of the research into the alternative procurement system.

“If the town purchases electricity in volume, we can get a volume discount, and we all know, the last couple of years, utility rates have skyrocketed,” he said.

Ormsbee explained that both commercial and residential customers are free to shop around for their electricity suppliers.

“That’s been very well established and very successful for large, commercial customers,” he said. “Commercial enterprises, for the better part of 20 years, have been doing very well for themselves, saving money on their electricity bill. Residential customers, kind of a mixed bag. You’ve been able to choose your own supplier, a lot of individuals do that, … but it takes a lot of time, a lot of effort. You have to be extremely careful.”

Community electricity aggregation, which was approved by the state legislature in 2017 but not implemented until 2023, Municipal allows cities and towns to act on behalf of residents.

Ormsbee noted that unlike the utility, which purchases  power regardless of the market price at the time, the community aggregation program can save electricity customers money by purchasing power when rates are low.

“It’s being able to be more strategic in your purchases relative to Rhode Island Energy,” he said.

There is one component of the program that gave council members pause: If the town were to proceed with the program, Richmond residents would be automatically enrolled, unless they chose to opt out.

“There would still be an option to stay with Rhode Island Energy, if they prefer,” Ormsbee said.

Council members had questions about the opt-out provision.

Councilor Jim Palmisciano asked why there was only an opt-out provision instead of an option to opt-in.

“That’s sort of critical for these programs to be successful,” Ormsbee said. “There have been attempted opt-in programs over the years, and they just haven’t been successful. It’s very difficult to get people to sign up for a large buying pool. … A large buying pool allows a community to get competitive rates.”

Palmisciano said he thought the plan looked promising, but he was concerned about residents being automatically enrolled unless they opt out.

“You’re going to have a lot of people who just don’t pay attention, and suddenly, they’re ‘wait, what?’, but saving them money, I wanted to see what that actual savings was,” he said.

Madnick said he wanted to see what other companies might offer before committing the town to a program.

“What is the process?” he asked. “Do we have to go out to bid?”

Town Administrator Karen Pinch said the town could issue a request for proposals and invite companies to bid.

The council approved a motion, made by Madnick, to authorize Pinch and Town Solicitor Christopher Zangari to “draft a request for proposals for initial aggregation options.”

The Economic Development Task Force

Palmisciano told the council that he had received plenty of feedback regarding his plan to form an Economic Development Task Force. He noted that he and councilor Jeffrey Dinsmore planned to attend the next meeting of the Economic Development Commission, on Jan. 13.

“I want to make sure I have the opportunity to share my thoughts with the EDC and make sure that they understand, from my perspective, how they’re a critical component to the entirety of the task force,” he said.

The task force, as proposed, would have seven members: two council members, one representative each from the EDC the Planning Board and the Recreation Commission, a business “leader from the community” and a “community leader.”

EDC member James Brear asked for a clarification of the role of the new task force.

“We do have an Economic Development Commission right now that’s in place. This is just a proposal, correct?” he asked.

Palmisciano replied, “This is a proposal to establish a task force, of which the EDC would have a representative to be part of that wider organization,” he said. “…There’s things that are certainly identified that need to be done that our outside the scope of what I see from the EDC perspective, and we’ll talk more about that on Monday.”

The Richmond Townhouse Road Project

Palmisciano requested an update on progress on the project at 4 Richmond Townhouse Road, across from the Town Hall.

The town received a federal grant for $578,000 for the construction of a pavilion and recreation facilities.

Pinch said, “The initial was a pavilion that would house plumbing with bathrooms, picnic tables, playground, basketball court.”

With the recent rise in the popularity of pickle ball, there has been talk of replacing the planned basketball court with a pickleball court.

Town Planner Talia Jalette explained that the required environmental study, by the consultant GZA GeoEnvironmental, was currently underway.

“You need to have some understanding of the environmental status the property has at this particular moment in time, as part of the application process going forward,” she said.

Palmisciano asked Jalette and Pinch if they could further investigate the timeline for the project.

“I just think, you know, a lot of people we have conversations with when we’re out there talking with individuals, there was a desire to see something come to fruition there,” he said. “It’s a wonderful piece of property adjacent to the Town Hall to have an outdoor collective space.”

The Assistant Town Clerk

Pinch told the council that Town Clerk Erin Liese is short one part-time clerk.

“That was an 18-hour position and, as you know, also, we’re trying to put together a municipal court which would entail a clerk,” she said.

Pinch asked the council to consider making the parti-time clerk position full-time.

“If she [Erin Liese] would make her part-time employee a full-time employee, she would be happy to take on the responsibility for clerking the municipal court from within her office,” she said, adding that the new position would be “a wash.”

Madnick asked whether the additional cost of benefits, which would accompany the full-time position, had been calculated. Pinch replied that the benefits would depend on the circumstances of the person hired.

Reynolds made a motion to change the position of assistant/elections clerk from part-time to full-time. The council, with Dinsmore voting no, approved the motion.

Other Business

The council approved a request by Richmond Rural Preservation Land Trust Chair Suzanne Paton to sign, on behalf of the town, documents that will make it possible for the Land Trust to receive previously-awarded funding to acquire a conservation easement on a property Hillsdale Road.

The council agreed to table its discussion of an increase in annual/senior 100% disabled property tax exemptions.

During a public hearing, council members approved a zoning ordinance amendment adding Wood River Circle to the roads in Valley Lodge Estates where the speed limit has been reduced to 15 miles per hour.

Also approved was an amendment proposed by Town Council President Samantha Wilcox to remove the requirements of membership on the Chariho School Committee and the town’s Recreation Commission for members of the commission planning the town’s role in the state’s 250th anniversary of the founding of the United States.

Wilcox made a motion, which the council approved, to remove the membership restrictions.

“We want to open this up to new people, and maybe somebody who wants to help out on this commission, but isn’t necessarily on our recreation commission,” she said.

The council approved the renewals of annual contracts for Town Solicitors Christopher Zangari and Michael Cozzolino.